We are suddenly making faster progress in “taming” the foster mini/pony mares. Yesterday I was again able to groom Spice in the barn then put a halter on her and lead her around the barnyard. I also did some of the Parelli games with her — “friendly game” and “porcupine” went very well.
Today she came back into the barn and Sugar followed her into the stall where we keep some hay. I thought if I could close them in together and groom Spice in front of her then Sugar might be more accepting of some grooming. That was working until suddenly Spice decided Sugar was taking attention or hay away from her and started kicking out at Sugar with me in the stall. Note to self: do not close self in stall with 2 insecure horses in future. Fortunately I did not get hurt and Sugar wasn’t really injured either except for a little loss of hair and one small bump.
After that I just kept Sugar in the stall and brushed Spice out in the aisle. When I was done with her I returned to the stall with Sugar and actually was able to brush her a bit then started working on her tail as she seemed more accepting of that since it kept me far from her head. I got her tail totally cleared of burrs and most of her mane combed out, too. She wouldn’t let me touch her mane up closer to her ears but she would let me spray the detangler on her so hopefully I can work on it again soon. She isn’t ready to try a halter on yet since she is so head shy. See how pretty she is all cleaned up? Now I know why I liked playing with the “My Little Pony” dolls with my little sister — I was preparing for these guys!!!

If you’ve read some of my other posts about our foster mini/pony mares you know progress with them has been very slow. If you haven’t, briefly they are being fostered by us for Spirit Horse Equine Rescue and we have had them here since May. They were part of a neglect case where over 100 animals (llamas, goats, donkeys, horses, minis) were taken away from a gentleman who couldn’t care for them all. They had not been handled by humans.

The girls watch us interacting with our mini donkeys and horses and I keep hoping they can see that they are not afraid of us and it might rub off on them. It has taken a long time to even be able to touch them and they are finally accepting a little bit of brushing, Spice has had a halter on a couple of times and both will take treats from our hands.

The girls have beautiful coats with long gorgeous tails and manes that were long but due to the burdocks in them they have shortened up. I have so wanted to get a comb/brush on them but have had to be patient. Lately they will wander in and out of the barn while I am in there and I can touch them a bit more. They will even walk into a stall on their own which they were doing today when I got the brilliant idea to try squirting some mane/tail detangler on them as they walked back and forth past me. They did accept that so I tried closing a stall door on Spice (the bolder one) to see what she would do. She did not get upset so I decided to put down some hay for her to eat and see if I could touch and brush her a bit more. Much to my surprise when I started gently pulling burrs out of her mane she tolerated it. After about 30 min. I had her mane totally clear of burdocks and started in on her tail. I really didn’t expect her to tolerate such a long grooming session but she did. I even got the burrs out of her feathering on her fetlocks and got to pick up one of her feet.

So I decided to try one more thing. I got out a halter and rubbed it on her face. Then I put it on her and tied it. I let the lead rope drag and thought that would be all I could accomplish for one session. I opened the stall door with me holding the lead rope. She followed me! I got some apples and put down an apple ahead of her. She would walk to it and take a bite, then I would pick up the apple and move it ahead again. This worked great as that way she was following instead of me pulling on the rope to get her to move. After that I got her to follow me all over the barnyard before I took off the halter. This was a big day for little Spice. Now if I can get a comb/brush on Sugar’s mane and tail that would be great.

I haven’t written much about the little foster horses as progress is pretty slow. They are at a really good weight and have beautiful winter coats. Unfortunately their tails are matted with burrs and they are not at a point I can get those out. They will let me pull a burr or two out of their manes though. Today they both followed me into the barn and were poking around in there while I cleaned it up. I was able to run a brush over both of them while they were in there, even Sugar let me gently brush her with a lot of “approach and retreat” on my part. I briefly was able to touch Sugar’s lower front leg which is a first with her. They both enjoyed some apples while I was brushing them so it was a positve experience. They are getting curious about us and what we are doing and do seek out a bit of attention on their own now. Spice remains the dominant one of the pair but Sugar does not back down from her as quickly.
So that’s where we’re at after having them for 5 months — a slow progression.

The girls are sadly starting to grow their winter coats. They also have managed to get into a few burrs which is problematic when they won’t get you brush them. I worked with Spice today on that and was actually able to brush her face, neck and back with a brush and get a few burrs out of her mane. That is huge considering she’s never felt a brush before. She also let me pick up one foot briefly and I was able to lead her a few steps using the savvy string around her neck.

Sugar comes right up for attention but as soon as you reach for her and hold another object near her she retreats. I just give her a treat and pet her face briefly so at least she allows that bit of human contact. I’ll just keep working with her and hoping that soon we’ll have that breakthrough with her, too.

As promised, I have finally taken a couple of new pictures of Sugar and Spice, our foster mini-horses. They are looking really good, okay slightly fat maybe.
Today Sugar let me touch the side of her neck — a first. Spice let me run over most of her body tonight including touching her hooves.

Two days in a row now I’ve been able to slip a halter on Spice.
I tie it loosely then just let it slip back off. I have not put a rope on the halter yet and I put no pressure on it. I just give her a couple of treats then let it slip off again. I also was able to comb my fingers through her mane yesterday, also a first. Sugar remains very wary although I did touch her face briefly with the halter a couple of times.

A couple of Pat Parelli quotes help me remember that patience is a virtue with these girls and to stick with my slow approach. Pat says “Take the time it takes so it takes less time.” and “prior and proper preparation prevents poor performance particularly if polite and passive persistence is practiced in the proper position.”

Sugar and Spice are progressing well and are looking for the right home(s) that would continue to provide a patient, nurturing atmosphere. In return they have much to offer. I picture them being trained to pull a cart in time. If you are interested in adopting one or both please contact Spirit Horse Equine Rescue. There would be much support available to help you continue working with them.

The mini horse/pony foster girls have been here 2 months now.
Here is a summary of where we are at with them.
To review we are fostering them for Spirit Horse Equine Rescue in WI and when they came to us they were pretty much wild, not used to people, touch, etc. They have slowly come to be more interested not only in us but in other people. When my agility students or neighbor kids are here they now come to the fence to see them and will take treats from them, too. We can touch both of their faces but Sugar is still much more skittish than Spice. With Spice I can now touch her front legs, chest, neck and back, also occasionally I can lightly touch her rear. I wish I could comb out their manes but they aren’t ready for that kind of touching yet, hopefully soon. I can also drape a light weight rope over Spice’s neck and back and scratch her back/rump with a “Carrot Stick”. They whinny or nicker when they see me and they love treats. Their coats are beautiful and shiny, their weight is normal now. I still have not seen Sugar come into heat but hopefully she just doesn’t show it and isn’t pregnant. Spice is a bit more obvious when she is in heat as she teases my gelding, Nick.

Because they weren’t used to pasture I have had to ease them into being out on grass starting with just an hour at a time but now they can be out all day as the pasture is not as rich as 2 months ago. They are able to be out with my mini donkeys or with my two horses. They especially enjoy their time with my horses as they all run and play on and off all day. They are beautiful when they run, Spice especially is well built and is a beautiful mover when she gets going.
I could picture them being trained to pull a cart or small wagon but they still need to find the right home.

It’s rainy and ugly outside today (and horribly cold for July, only 59 degrees!) but on a nicer day I will take new photos and post them.

I haven’t written about the mini foster horses in almost 2 weeks because progress is slow and I don’t want to bore everyone. In the last few days things have moved along a bit though.

The girls are spending much more time on grass now, their winter coats are finally all gone and their coats are pretty shiny and healthy looking. I still can’t brush them so their manes are pretty scruffy but hopefully in the next month I’ll be able to try, at least with Spice, the bolder one.

It has helped to take the advice about working with them “outside their bubble”. I have been hanging the carrot stick over the fence, flicking the rope around from the other side of the fence, letting the rope touch them briefly and finally (only with Spice) rubbing back, neck, rump with the carrot stick so they know it won’t hurt them. I think Spice is starting to think that feels really good as she is starting to stand still for the scratch with the stick. I can also drape the string that is on the carrot stick (Savvy String) around her neck, over her back and touch her legs with it. Sugar still is very wary of the stick and string although I’ve been able to get it a bit closer to her lately and she has sniffed it. Being able to rub her with the stick has been a huge breakthough. I hope Sugar will accept some rubs with the stick soon.

Tonight I made some great progress. I had the girls loose in our outdoor arena to graze. I went in the arena and start lightly flicking the carrot stick and string around as I walked then stopped and waited for the girls to come over to me. They both did and got treats for coming to me. Then I started walking around the outdoor flicking the stick rhythmically in front of me. They both followed me all over and when I ran, Spice trotted behind me and when I stopped she usually stopped although once I had to slap the ground with the stick so she didn’t run into me. I played this game for a while with them and occasionally doled out a treat to each one then left the arena without putting pressure on them to do anything.

Later tonight when I went to feed them they both came over the fence and Spice poked her head through at me. I was able to rub her face with my hand for many seconds then worked my hand along her neck and rubbed it for quite a while. When she seemed okay with that I touched/rubbed her chest then touched her upper legs. I was also able to run Sugar’s face for the longest time I’ve ever been able to touch her. This is a big change even in the last week.

Horses see us as predators and they are the prey so it takes a lot of work to earn their trust especially when they haven’t had much human contact. Here is a video showing the friendly game and how it is used to win the trust of and desensitize a horse.

Friendly Game

Eventually I should be able to do more of this with the girls. Of course right now they haven’t even had a halter on yet so everything is done with them loose in a fenced area and usually from more of a distance. I’ll do another update once we have made some more progress.

The foster mares have been here one month today. We have to keep them in a pen or “dry lot” except for a few hours a day as they cannot be on grass all day or they will founder (develop laminitis). They are now less skittish when we enter their pen and they do come right up to the fence when I am out in the barnyard or go to feed them. They do enjoy their time on grass and nicker at me when I go to open the gate letting them into one of the grassy areas of our farm. Tonight they got to go in the largest pasture we have along with my horse Nick. I thought they would feel more secure if they had him with them and they all played at first before they settled down to graze. I did not have any trouble separating Nick from them or getting them to move to their pen tonight after about 3 hours on grass. That was a pleasant surprise as I was a bit worried they would just take off and run and run since I can’t get a halter on to catch them but instead have to use the “driving game” to move them from space to space.

I can now touch their faces pretty much every time I am around them, even Sugar is letting me push her mane out of her eyes. I would so love to get a brush on them but they aren’t ready for it yet.
At the Parelli event this weekend one of their instructors told me to try working with them from outside their “bubble” so I have been flicking the “carrot stick” (a long orange stick) with a rope around outside their fence then hanging the rope into their pen and letting them see it. I am calling it my horse fishing pole. I actually was able to drape the rope over Spice’s neck and scratch her back and rear briefly with the stick. Sugar will not let the rope be too near her yet but will let it touch her head briefly while she reaches for treats.

Their coats look much better as they have lost most of their scruffy winter coat and have a shine to their summer coats now. Spice especially has filled out and doesn’t look ribby any more. Sugar has filled out a bit but still looks too thin. I am still wondering if she may be expecting a foal due to the shape of her belly and that her spinal muscles seem dropped down from her spine as a pregnant mare can look. Time will tell……

I’ll write more about their progress and try to take some new photos of them soon.

This is a quick update on the mini/pony foster mares. Spice has been quite feisty this week since she’s been in heat. She nipped at my arm today when I tried to touch her neck so I backed off. They are getting more curious. Today they both were sniffing at my shirt through the fence which is new. I just know we can’t push it with them or otherwise we will justify them being afraid of us. Approach and retreat is the way we work with them. As the Parelli’s explain it, we are predators to them and they think we are going to eat them. So if we move fast, yell, approach quickly, etc. we are only convincing them we really are going to eat them. Patience is the only way we will ever get these girls to trust us or any human. So in 3 weeks it doesn’t appear that there is a lot of progress but our patience is laying a foundation for future trust.